Opening sentence:
General Secretary Xi Jinping pointed out in the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China that promoting cultural self-confidence and self-improvement will create new brilliance of socialist culture.
The report pointed out that cultural undertakings should be prosperous and developed.
It is necessary to adhere to the people-centered creative orientation and launch more excellent products that enhance the spiritual power of the people.
Looking back on the past ten years, the vast number of literary and art workers have gone deep into society, walked into the grassroots, explored traditions, kept upright and innovated, and kept searching in various art fields, telling Chinese stories in a form that the majority of people like to hear, and showing China through artistic aesthetics. The real life of the common people, carry forward the spirit of the Chinese people's aggressiveness and hard work, and sing the praises of the new era, new look and new spirit.
"Beijing Youth Daily" will launch the column "The Ten Years of China's Main Theme" from today, showing the development path and achievements of Chinese literature and art in the past ten years from multiple angles and multiple dimensions.
In the National Day file that just passed, the new mainstream film once again led the way. For the first time, the film "Returning from Thousands of Miles", which focused on the behind-the-scenes of the Chinese diplomats' evacuation, has been strong and has become the box office champion of the National Day file. This is also the fourth consecutive year that the new mainstream film has led the National Day file. box office.
In the past ten years, people have strongly felt that the "main theme" movies are getting better and better, and that Chinese movies have become more and more mature in the choice of themes and narrative methods of "Chinese stories", and they have realized the effective dissemination of mainstream values with strong appreciation. Many miracles have been left on the film, projecting the continuous progress of Chinese films.
The main theme becomes the new mainstream movie
In the past ten years, China's film creation and production capacity has been significantly enhanced, and fine masterpieces that demonstrate Chinese spirit, Chinese value, Chinese strength, and Chinese aesthetics have continued to emerge. From 2012 to the end of September 2022, the total box office of Chinese films reached 432.76 billion yuan.
During this period, Chinese films have achieved vigorous development. In 2012, the annual box office of the Chinese film market was only 17.1 billion yuan; by 2019, the Chinese film box office exceeded 64.2 billion yuan, while the proportion of domestic films in the market has steadily increased. , Since 2015, the top box office crown every year has been won by domestic films.
Looking back at the development of Chinese films in recent years, the main theme films have made the most dazzling progress.
In 2013, Yu Dong, chairman of Bona Films, spent more than 40 days in Mudanjiang with director Tsui Hark, Huang Jianxin and other main creative teams, and filmed the 3D blockbuster "Taking Tiger Mountain by Wisdom", which earned 880 million yuan at the box office after its release. He became the box-office champion of the New Year's Eve and created the road of innovative expression of the main theme film; in the following years, blockbusters such as "Operation Mekong", "Operation Red Sea" and "Wolf Warrior 2" continued to emerge; in 2019, China's pride trilogy—— "Heroes of Fire", "Captain of China" and "Decisive Moment" have reignited the enthusiasm for mainstream blockbusters on the screen, and "The Climber" has filled the gap in the theme of mountaineering in Chinese movies; in 2021, there will be 30 new mainstream movies in China. It becomes the best carrier of "Chinese narrative".
In addition to "Changjin Lake", the spy war film "Above the Cliff" directed by Zhang Yimou, "Chinese Doctor", one of the "China Victory Trilogy", and "Chinese Doctor", which reproduces Li Dazhao's revolutionary experience of dying calmly, have also attracted attention. "Revolutionary", "Best Feature Film Award" at the 34th China Film Golden Rooster Awards, "Island Keeper" and "1921", etc. These films are constantly looking for a "dialogue" with the current audience in their creation, which is in line with the Chinese audience's understanding of China Identity with stories and values.
It can be said that the main theme film has continued to exert its strength, has the courage to break the inherent model, tried to have a more intimate contact with the laws of art and the market, radiated vigorous vitality and creativity, and finally formed the commercialization of the theme film and the mainstream of commercial films. change.
These films are of high artistic quality and shocking audiences. They have won a good reputation and high box office, fulfilling the needs of film industry upgrading, and successfully advanced to the development stage of "new mainstream films".
Under the unremitting exploration of Chinese filmmakers, the new mainstream movies have repeatedly "broken the circle", and the head effect is obvious. At present, the two new mainstream blockbusters "Changjin Lake" and "Wolf Warrior 2" are currently on the box office list of Chinese film history. The box office results of 5.795 billion and 5.694 billion firmly occupy the first and second positions.
Taking the National Day file as an example, since 2019, several new mainstream blockbusters such as "My Motherland and Me", "My Hometown and Me", "Changjin Lake" and "The Way Back Home" have become the absolute leaders of the National Day file in the past four years. It has successfully driven the growth of the film market in important schedules.
Civilian perspective and youth narrative resonate
Is there a pattern behind the success of new mainstream movies?
Yu Dong, chairman of Bona Films, believes that movies are a reflection of the times, and a truly good movie must be a movie that fits the tide of the times and reflects the voice of the people.
The success of a movie must have a reflection on the real society and have a strong resonance with the current audience. "Today's Chinese audiences hope that the heroes on the screen are Chinese heroes, and they hope to see China on the screen. People's emotional stories. Behind this self-confidence and cultural identity is the strength of our motherland and the happiness in the hearts of the people."
The new mainstream films focus on ordinary people and individuals, so that mainstream values and national feelings are expressed in ordinary individuals, and they move people's hearts with contagious and penetrating artistic images.
For example, the "hero series" composed of "Captain China", "Heroes of Fire" and "Ordinary Heroes" shows the heroes of ordinary people, and the protagonists are from every ordinary family in China; the movie "Chinese Doctor" rushed to the first time. In Wuhan, I went deep into the streets and alleys to witness the touching rebirth of Wuhan from the ashes, and put the most real anti-epidemic stories on the screen, which moved countless audiences.
On the other hand, the new mainstream movies have promoted contemporary filmmakers to make movies based on the production concept of modern movies, which is in line with the viewing habits of young people. Its atmosphere, rhythm, and aesthetic pursuits must be highly consistent with the tastes of today’s young people Thoughts and values of contemporary young people.
For example, the movie "Wolf Warrior" integrates various elements such as action and war, reflecting the national spirit with the growth of small characters; "1921" returns to the historical scene a hundred years ago, and reproduces the "youth" of enthusiastic young people with an average age of only 28 in a panoramic view. "My Motherland and Me" cuts in from the perspective of small people, showing the historical moment when the people and the motherland breathe and share the same destiny; the film "Revolutionary" uses the 38 hours before Li Dazhao's execution as the narrative time, showing his life in life At the last moment, the revolutionary pride and the youthful blood sacrificed for the nation.
Lin Chaoxian, the director of "Operation Red Sea", said that he satisfied the young people's imagination of the navy serving the country's bloody image, and made the Chinese navy "stylish and cool".
New mainstream blockbusters are still breaking through
The "Changjin Lake" series of films can be described as an important milestone in Chinese theme films, and it is a joint effort of the entire Chinese film industry.
The success of this series has opened up a new artistic path for the creation of new mainstream blockbusters - it can not only be faithful to history, but also not stick to details, but also achieve the innovation of audio-visual language and the upgrading of production standards, presenting the diversity of the home-country discourse system from the depth of human nature Sex and depth.
This creative trend that is close to the theme of the times has been resonated and recognized by the soul, making "new mainstream movies" synonymous with explosions.
The creation process of a new mainstream blockbuster is an all-round test of the maturity of the entire film industry. "Changjin Lake" represents the advanced industrialization level of Chinese films.
The special effects, production and typed narrative of "Changjin Lake" have reached the world's top level.
The film's end credits are nearly 8 minutes long and list the names of all the main creators.
These 8 minutes pay tribute to the 12,000 staff behind "Changjin Lake".
Producer Yu Dong said, "The creators and behind-the-scenes of the film "Changjin Lake" are very strong, and there are more than 100 global special effects companies serving the film."
The good news is that phenomenal new mainstream blockbusters are constantly emerging, and they are constantly challenging themselves and refreshing their themes.
The film "The Climber", one of the top three National Day archives in 2019, not only left a mental map of the Chinese "climbing for the country", but also filled the genre gap.
From "The Climber", China finally has a hardcore mountaineering movie, breaking through and expanding the current world movie creation mode of shooting mountaineering movies in a pan-documentary style.
The reason why this year's film "Returning Miles" was able to carry the box office banner of the National Day file is closely related to the freshness of the subject matter. The film fills the gap in the subject matter of Chinese films and reveals the hardships and games behind the evacuation of civilians.
In the past ten years, the main theme film has completed the self-iteration of the evolution to the new mainstream blockbuster, and it is still exploring more possibilities, meeting the needs of Chinese film audiences for local themes and local souls, with delicate Chinese narratives and touching home and country. Feelings, injecting upward and good energy into the hearts of the audience, has become a realistic way to record China's prosperity and development.
Text/Our reporter Xiao Yang (Source: Beijing Youth Daily)